Homeschool Writing and Then Some
Ever wish you had someone who could hold your hand through this homeschool journey and help you know what’s important and what might trip you up? That’s what this podcast aims to do, especially as it pertains to preparing middle/high school kids to be successful writers. Because teaching teens to write can be tricky. What exactly are you supposed to teach? And how are you supposed to teach it? What if your child hates to write? What if you hate to write!? These are some of the challenges we’ll explore each week. If you’re looking for guidance as well as a little bit of encouragement and a lot of inspiration, you’ve come to the right place.
Homeschool Writing and Then Some
Ep #16 Thesis Statements
Episode 16 Thesis Statements
Today’s topic is thesis statements. I know. Not the most glamorous of topics, but an important one since thesis statements are the workhorses of the essay world. Exciting? Probably not. Essential? Absolutely. A strong thesis statement is often what makes an essay shine, and in this episode I share with you the method I use in my classroom to teach this important skill.
In this episode, I discuss
- the characteristics of a strong thesis statement
- how to transform a broad and general thesis statement (which is not what you want) into a clear and specific one (yes!)
- whether it is necessary for your thesis statement to be a single sentence
- what it means for a thesis statement to be “arguable” and why this is an absolute must
- a simple strategy for having students practice writing a thesis statement without having to write an entire essay.
I think that learning to write a strong thesis statement is one of the best things students can do to improve their writing and create shining essays.
Click here to visit the website for Homeschool Writing and Then Some
Email me at ruth@bitandrudder.com
Links Mentioned
OWL (Online Writing Lab at Purdue)
Episode 11 To AP or Not to AP?